AWS runs much of the modern cloud but a new report just found a major weak spot. Intruder’s 2026 Cloud Security Index checked nearly 3,000 organizations. The report covers AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
Researchers tracked misconfiguration data for a full year, through July 2026. Then, they published the results in mid-August 2026. The findings show a clear pattern that multi-cloud teams now face real risk.
Currently, publicly exposed services showed up in 76% of AWS accounts. Google Cloud accounts hit just 8% while Azure sat in the middle at 64%. Many security teams assume every cloud platform is equally risky but the numbers say otherwise.
The AWS 76% vs Google Cloud 8% Exposure Gap
This gap goes beyond exposed services alone. Loose firewall rules affect 83% of AWS accounts while Azure sits at 45%, and Google Cloud sits at 34%. In addition, weak login controls hurt every platform equally, affecting 87% to 98% of accounts overall and AWS carries the biggest storage risk.
Furthermore, researchers found unsafe storage folders in 87% of accounts checked with many skipping basic secure connections. Also, Azure’s biggest weak spot sits in storage too with three separate storage problems each affecting over 60% of accounts and weak encryption follows a similar pattern across all three platforms. Although, bigger companies tend to report fewer problems than smaller ones.
Defaults, Not Just Discipline
AWS offers a huge number of cloud services and more services mean more chances for mistakes. However, Google Cloud takes a different path. It turns on strong security settings by default, sharing more of the safety work with users.
Instead, AWS leaves that work to the user, so teams must manually secure many services themselves. In addition, fewer built-in protections which means more room for error. In contrast, Google’s smaller service plays a role. Fewer moving parts simply leave fewer doors open from the start.
The Breaches Already on the Board
Currently, misconfiguration has already caused real damage. EduConnect, an online learning platform, felt it directly. One unsafe storage folder exposed student records for three weeks, leaving names, addresses, and private records open online.
Around the same time, a healthcare breach hit millions of patients, also traced to one open storage folder. Today, misconfiguration ranks among the top three breach causes overall.
In addition, Gartner predicts customer error will cause 99% of cloud failures through 2026. Third parties made the risk worse too which have been tied to nearly half of all breaches this year. Automated scanners find open data within minutes but teams often don’t notice for weeks.
Platform-by-Platform Security, Not One Policy
No two cloud platforms need the same defense. Intruder’s leadership says one setup can’t cover every single provider so each platform needs its own plan.
For a start, AWS teams should focus first on storage and firewalls, Azure teams should tighten identity protections. Then, Google Cloud teams should still watch access controls closely, since weak identity remains its main flaw.
Ultimately, AWS’s huge market share makes its risks the most urgent to fix. Ongoing monitoring beats one-time fixes, since regular checks catch problems before attackers do. However, the report makes one thing clear, no cloud platform is safe by default.
